The No. 17 UCF Knights will open their season Thursday against Florida A&M with Brandon Wimbush under center, the team announced Thursday. The Notre Dame transfer will split time with freshman quarterback Dillon Gabriel, ending a three-man race to start for the defending American Athletic Conference champions.
The Knights were sent to seek a replacement at starting quarterback after Mackenzie Milton went down to a leg injury in the final game of the regular season. Quarterback Darriel Mack, who was expected to compete for the starting job, led the Knights to a win in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game and started in the team's Fiesta Bowl loss to LSU.
But Mack broke his ankle in the offseason and will miss the first part of the season.
That left the quarterback competition to Wimbush, Gabriel and returning redshirt freshman Quadry Jones, who threw one pass for the Knights last year. It was a touchdown throw against East Carolina.
Wimbush was the clear favorite. The senior threw for 1,870 yards for Notre Dame in 2017 and 719 yards last year for the Irish before giving up the starter's job to Ian Book. Wimbush offers the Knights with the most experience of anyone on the roster.
But coach Josh Heupel made it clear the highly touted freshman Gabriel will get his time under center too. Gabriel set Hawaii's high school record for passing yards and was the 2018 Gatorade High School Player of the Year in Hawaii. That is the same place Milton made his name before heading to UCF.
The Knights will have some time to get themselves right. They open their season Thursday against Florida A&M at Spectrum Stadium. They will then head to Boca Raton to play Florida Atlantic before a big Week 3 game against No. 25 Stanford at Spectrum Stadium.
